Preikestolen - Pulpit Rock, Norway

I was so busy in August, I neglected to point out my first clip in Odyssey magazine.   "Guardians of the Forest" was published in the September issue.  I was really pleased with how the editors and designers set up the first page and printed the names of the animals under their photographs.  Also, I was happy to find my article, "Flippin' Out Over School,"  republished in the September issue of Fun for Kidz, which is now in color.

On September 3rd, we hiked to Pulpit Rock and boy does this hike rock!  I LOVED this hike.  On a scale of 1 to 10, this was a 20!  To get to the hike, we took a ferry to Tau, then a bus to
Preikestolen.

This was a pleasant change after hiking up high stone steps.

They say this hike takes about two hours each way.  We were so excited we hiked fast up stone steps and along wooden paths.  We passed everyone except the swift Norwegian hikers.  According to Alltrails, we got to the top in 1 hour and 13 minutes!  The weather was perfect and the view phenomenal.  Although my compact Olympus binoculars (8x21) added extra weight to my pack, I never regretted bringing them anywhere in Europe.

  At the top, young fearless Norwegian girls dangled their legs off the edge, like they were sitting on a fence.  They set an example of bravery--or maybe it was insanity.

Although it looks like I'm about to commit suicide, I'm really on a trail.

That dude on the right with his legs dangling--that's Walt.

That was close enough for me.

Then we hiked higher, away from the crowd.  I sang "I'm on the edge, the edge of Glory" over and over again.  All day long, we savored the stunning vista, etching it into our memories.  I did not want to leave, but the bus and ferry had a schedule to keep and we didn't want to miss the last one.  I wrote in my journal, "I have hiked many mountains to reach panoramas, but none could compare to this."
 

Breathtaking!